Serger Recipes

Serger Recipes is a notebook for serger and overlocker settings. You run a test on a scrap, adjust the tensions until the stitch is right, and sew the garment. Serger Recipes is where those numbers go, so the next project starts from what worked instead of from scratch.

It replaces the index card taped inside the cupboard door. It does not tell you what settings to use.

Serger Recipes is coming soon to the App Store.

One record per test that worked

Each recipe holds the machine, stitch type, fabric name, type and stretch, needle, thread, a result rating, and your notes—plus eight numbers: left and right needle tension, upper and lower looper tension, differential feed, stitch length, stitch width, and cutting width. A setting you did not record stays blank. It is never shown or printed as a zero.

Add front and back photos of the test swatch from the camera or the photo library, and pinch to zoom in on the stitch. Photos support—not replace—the physical swatch you keep for feel and drape.

Tied to the machine that made it

Recipes stay meaningful when they are tied to the machine that made them. The built-in catalog lists 163 models across 14 brands, from Baby Lock and BERNINA to JUKI, PFAFF, and SINGER, searchable by brand, model, alternate designation, and machine type. A machine that is not listed can be added by hand, and it works exactly the same way.

Each machine can hold your usual tensions, needle, and thread. A new recipe on that machine opens with them filled in, so the first entry is an adjustment rather than a blank form. These are your own numbers; the app ships none.

Your records, not advice

Serger Recipes never suggests a setting. On a recipe, it shows other recipes you saved on the same machine for the same fabric or stitch—the records themselves, never an average. The stitch reference explains which control relates to which appearance, in the manufacturer’s own words with a link to the source, and never gives a value to set.

Settings do not carry over between machines, threads, and fabrics. Treat every recipe as a personal reference, and test on a scrap before sewing your project.

Print it and file it with the swatch

A recipe prints as a card with the machine and every recorded setting, sized to trim and file with the physical swatch. A QR code on the card reopens that recipe when scanned. A machine can also print one sheet listing every recipe on it, for the wall beside the machine. Photos are not printed: the swatch is right there.

Supplies, search, and export

Keep track of the needles and thread you have, with a built-in list of needle systems and thread lines, and flag what you need to buy to get a plain-text shopping list you can share. Search and filter by fabric, machine, stitch, tags, and favorites; compare two recipes side by side; or duplicate one to vary a single setting.

The whole vault exports as a readable .json file you can keep or import again. There is no lock-in.

Free and Pro

Serger Recipes runs on iPhone and iPad with iOS or iPadOS 17 or later, and on Mac with macOS 14 or later. It is free to download, with up to 3 machines, 10 recipes, and a small mark along the edge of printed cards. Serger Recipes Pro is a one-time $7.99 purchase (regional pricing applies), not a subscription, and works on every device signed in to the same Apple Account. It removes those three limits and nothing else.

Needles and thread, iCloud sync, backup and export, search, filtering, comparison, and printing are never limited. Nothing you have already saved is ever locked or removed, whether you buy Pro or not.

Private by design

Your recipes, machines, supplies, and photos stay on your device and, if sync is on, in your own private iCloud database. Serger Recipes has no account, no analytics, no advertising, no third-party SDKs, and no network code of its own.

Questions

My machine isn’t in the list. Add it by hand. Nothing is limited to catalog models, and a hand-added machine behaves identically.

Does it tell me what tension to use? No, and deliberately. It records what worked for you on your machine. A number from someone else’s serger would be a guess dressed up as an answer.

Where is my data? On your device, and in your own iCloud if sync is on. The privacy policy has the details.

I bought Pro and a new device doesn’t have it. Use Restore purchase on the Pro screen while signed in to the same Apple Account.

Can I get my recipes out? Yes. Export the whole vault as a .json file from Settings.

What happens to my recipes if I never buy Pro? Nothing. They stay, they stay editable, and they stay exportable.

Can I get a refund? Refunds for App Store purchases are handled by Apple, not by the developer.

Read the Serger Recipes Privacy Policy · Questions: hello@tildekai.com